Group planning vigil to spotlight local immigrants

A national immigrant advocacy group will be spotlighting Athens-area immigrants as they share the trials and tribulations they endured coming to and living in the United States.

Sponsored by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the vigil comes less than a week after Hispanics throughout the state staged a work stoppage and boycotted American goods and services in protest of anti-illegal immigration pending in the Georgia General Assembly and in Congress.

"The vigil is to acknowledge those individuals working as immigrants in the U.S., particularly in Georgia, who have been victimized by being killed while working at their jobs, or when crossing the border, or who have been raped and victims of hate crimes," said Tisha Tallman, MALDEF's Southeast regional counsel.

A similar vigil was held March 17 in Atlanta, according to Tallman, who said Athens-Clarke County was chosen as the site of a second vigil because of the area's significant Hispanic population.

"The vigil is a way to highlight the struggle of our immigrant brothers and sisters, which many people are unaware of because they are a subclass," Tallman said. "One of the realities of being an immigrant is the constant fear of being deported, and as a result they often do not report crimes of violence, crimes of hate and property crimes."

Hispanic people in Athens haven't been targeted specifically because of their ethnicity, according to Athens-Clarke police.

But in Dalton, for example, a group of high schoolers pretending to be hiring day laborers took Hispanic men to remote areas and severely beat them. Last September in Tifton, six Hispanics were murdered and several wounded in a robbery spree by a group of thieves who knew illegal immigrants keep their savings at home rather than in banks.

A 2004 study by The Associated Press also found that Mexican workers are four times more likely to die on the job than a U.S.-born laborer because they frequently are given hazardous work with no training or safety protection, and don't complain about hazardous conditions.

"Because they are here illegally, immigrants are placed in various dangerous situations on a daily basis," Tallman said.

MALDEF has collaborated with Oasis Catolico Santa Rafaela - a group of nuns who work in the predominantly Hispanic Pinewood North Estates Mobile Home Park off U.S. Highway 29 North - to find local immigrants to share their stories during Thursday's vigil.

The national debate on illegal immigration, especially from across the Mexican border, is heating up as a result of legislation pending in Washington and Atlanta.

Federal lawmakers are due to vote on a bill to make entering the United States illegally a felony and to build fences along the Mexican border. State legislators are poised to send Gov. Sonny Perdue a new law to deny social services to illegal immigrants, penalize employers that knowingly hire them and require jailers to verify the immigration status of people booked on felony and driving under the influence charges and notify Homeland Security about illegal immigrants.

The flurry of legislative action led to protests Friday in the streets of several cities throughout Georgia and other states, and the demonstrations continued through the weekend in California, Texas, Michigan and elsewhere.

Protesters said lawmakers are unfairly targeting immigrants who provide a major labor pool for America's economy.

Vigil for Peace

What: A vigil "to acknowledge immigrants working in the United States"

When: 7 p.m. Thursday

Where: The Catholic Center at the University of Georgia, 1344 S. Lumpkin St.